A trust that grows by absorbing schools inherits their IT. Six schools, six different laptop models, four different interactive display brands, three different backup arrangements and one very tired central IT lead. It is not anyone’s fault. It is just what happens.
The case for standardising
Every model you support is a separate stock of spare parts, a separate imaging process, a separate set of quirks your engineers must learn. Reduce the number of models in the estate and you reduce support cost, repair time and training overhead, all at once. You also get considerably better pricing, because you are buying at trust scale rather than school scale.
The case against standardising too hard
A primary and a sixth form do not have the same needs. Nor does a design and technology department and a Year 3 classroom. The goal is not one device for everyone; it is a short, deliberate list — perhaps three or four device types across the trust — rather than an accumulation of whatever was on offer in each school’s budget year.
Five things to get right
- A rolling replacement plan, not a cliff edge. Replacing a fifth of the estate every year is budgetable. Replacing all of it in the year everything simultaneously dies is not.
- Buy for the support model, not the spec sheet. The cheapest laptop that fails twice as often is not the cheapest laptop.
- Total cost, not unit cost. Warranty length, on-site repair, imaging, deployment, disposal — count all of it.
- Dispose of the old kit properly. Asset reports and WEEE certificates are not optional, and trade-in on old devices takes real money off the next purchase.
- Do not forget the network. A trust-wide device rollout onto ageing wireless is a rollout of complaints. Sort the infrastructure first — there may be funding available.
How we work with trusts
Every support-contract customer gets a technically trained account manager with years of ICT experience, who visits regularly and comes to you with costed recommendations rather than waiting to be asked. For trusts, that means a single point of contact across every school, a five-year plan the leadership team can actually budget against, and an annual audit that keeps it honest.
Our in-house workshop in Radstock handles everything from a straightforward hardware repair to micro-soldering and fault finding, so kit does not disappear for weeks to a third party.
More on multi-academy trusts and IT procurement.
Buying across several schools?
We account-manage procurement from small businesses to large trusts, with a five-year plan you can budget against and WEEE-certified disposal of the old kit.
Or call us on 01761 347198. We are a local team — you will speak to a person, not a queue.